ENVE CUSTOM ROAD
BEHIND THE PRODUCT
IN 2007, ENVE WAS FOUNDED WITH LITTLE MORE THAN AN ADVANCED UNDERSTANDING OF CARBON TECHNOLOGIES AND THE BELIEF THAT THROUGH SUCH, A BETTER RIDE EXPERIENCE COULD BE ACHIEVED. MORE THAN A DECADE LATER, ENVE WHEELS AND COMPONENTS CONTINUE TO CARRY RIDERS AROUND THE GLOBE TO THEIR GREATEST CYCLING ACHIEVEMENTS. WHILE WHEELS AND COMPONENTS HAVE BEEN THE SOUL OBJECTS OF ENVE’S AFFECTION, WE BELIEVE THE PROGRESS THAT HAS BEEN MADE TOWARD THIS DREAM IS MERELY A PRELUDE FOR WHAT IS TO COME.
THE INTRODUCTION OF THE ENVE CUSTOM ROAD OPENS A NEW CHAPTER FOR ENVE WHERE THE HARD EARNED KNOWLEDGE GAINED OVER THE LAST DECADE DESIGNING AND MANUFACTURING RIMS, ARGUABLY THE MOST COMPLEX CARBON STRUCTURES IN SPORT, ARE NOW BEING APPLIED TO THE COMPONENT AT THE CENTER OF IT ALL – THE FRAME.
In reality, a “frame” has been in the ENVE pipeline since day one, we’ve wanted to make one, and you’ve wanted us to make one. In fact, whenever we’ve surveyed you on, “What would you like to see ENVE make next?” The number one response has consistently been, “a frame.” While wheels and components will remain a core focus for ENVE innovation into the future, the time has come to evolve the ENVE experience into complete bicycles.
Not Our First Rodeo…
While the Custom Road is our first ENVE branded frame, the reality is that we’ve been assisting frame brands both small and large to develop their capabilities and understanding of carbon fiber since 2007.
Here are some notable examples:
Parlee Z0 – Partners from nearly the beginning, ENVE and Parlee have collaborated on numerous projects over the years. The last major collaboration being Parlee’s flagship US made custom road bike, the Z0.
Santa Cruz V10 – ENVE was contracted by Santa Cruz to develop a carbon rear triangle for the Syndicate’s World Cup race V10s. The V10 was the first full-carbon production DH bike to win a World Cup.
Independent Fabrication Corvid – Winner of numerous “Dreambike” and “Bike of the Year” awards, the Corvid was the result of a collaboration between Independent Fabrication and ENVE. The Corvid is unique due to its IF stylized full-carbon lugged construction. What really makes the Corvid special though is its ability to be customized to the exact needs of the customer. This was a design challenge as the proliferation of lug molds could quickly become cost prohibitive. ENVE developed a tooling design and process that made the project possible.
Cervelo P5X – In a collaboration with ENVE and HED, Cervelo brought the purpose-built triathlon superbike, the P5X, to market. Cervelo’s experience with the SES wheels and components led them to commission ENVE to assist in the development and manufacturing of the P5X front-end.
While ENVE is opening a new chapter as a frame and complete bicycle manufacturer, we are committed to the continued support of US manufacturing and the small frame builder community into the future.
We Build The Products We Want To Ride
ENVE’s success in the aftermarket can largely be attributed to the fact that we are not just carbon craftsmen, but riders. Riders with resources to turn dreams and concepts into prototypes and eventually real products. Our products are great because we ride, which leads us to the Custom Road – a road bike we believe to be the ultimate representation of the modern road bike.
The Modern Road Bike
In 2015, we found ourselves in Northern France on the side of the famed Paris-Roubaix sector, the Carrefour de l’Arbre testing ENVE wheel durability with then Team MTN-Qhubeka in preparation for the team’s debut at the prestigious classic. As confidence in our wheel’s ability to survive the cobbles mounted, our thoughts turned to other performance considerations; namely, aerodynamics. We looked at the large volume tires on narrow rims, and considered the performance sacrifices being made in the wheel system to ensure success over the cobbles. Ultimately, the questions from that day were eventually answered by the launch of our progressive and now popular SES AR line of wheels.
So what does a wheel have to do with the new Custom Road? Through the development process of the SES AR line of wheels, visions of the perfect road bike began to form. As we tested the new AR wheels, we fell in love with the high-volume wheel/tire system that was made possible by the introduction of disc brakes on road bikes. The adoption of disc brakes opened up the design window in which we as a rim designer could operate, allowing rim widths to become wider. By optimizing the rim’s shape for the larger volume tires, aerodynamic losses were minimized, and on the road, notable gains in stability, traction, and confidence were achieved. However, there was one problem; the only bikes that would accommodate this type of wheel in 2016/17 were a handful of the latest disc brake equipped “endurance” road bikes. While these bikes provided a suitable platform and sufficient tire clearance for our new SES AR wheel, their geometries left something to be desired for a performance oriented road rider/racer. We started taking mental notes of what the ultimate road bike would be.
ENVE’s Definition of
a Modern Road Bike
• Custom Fit
• Personalized Design/Paint
• Aerodynamic
• Lightweight
• Clearance for up to a 35mm tire
• Functional Integration
• Electronic Drivetrain Only
• Disc Brake Only
Where High-Tech
Meets High-Touch
Some have asked, “why a frame?” Why now? When we looked at the bicycle aftermarket, there is no shortage of brands with super-bikes claiming year-over-year gains in aerodynamics, stiffness, weight savings, and materials. On the other side of the coin, there are many talented artisan builders from whom to buy a dream bike. These bikes however beautiful, often lack the modern amenities that come with premium composite materials, and aerodynamics.
The Custom Road connects the dots between the leading performance oriented technologies and personalization by blending ENVE’s carbon and aerodynamic expertise with our US manufacturing capabilities to deliver a completely customizable, hand-built for you bicycle.
That Perfect Fit
There are many reasons to buy a custom bike. Whether you’re simply tired of always riding the same bike as everyone else, or you yearn for a better fit, every dedicated cyclist should own a custom road bike at some point in their cycling life. At ENVE, we believe that a bike is only as good as its fit. Obviously, every rider is different, but time and again we see bikes that simply don’t fit their riders. Sure, you can make a bike fit by changing saddle offset, crank lengths, stem length, and handlebar stack, but ultimately you give up something. At a minimum you end up with a bike that simply doesn’t have the “fit for me” professional aesthetic, at worse, your weight distribution over the axles is disproportionately balanced and the bike’s intended handling characteristics are compromised.
With this in mind, our intention is for each Custom Road to fit its rider perfectly. To accomplish this feat, we first developed a modular construction method that allows us to build a frame with virtually any frame stack and frame reach configuration. Additionally, the unique construction of the SES AR handlebar/stem combo allows for 5 bar widths to be paired with virtually any stem length to further dial in the rider’s perfect fit.
Next, we developed what we refer to as our “Best Fit Calculator.” The Best Fit Calculator is a tool that aligns a rider’s fit reach and fit stack measurements with a frame geometry, headset spacer stack and stem length solution. The calculator assigns a “Best Fit Score” to a collection of geometries. From there, we work with you to select which geometry solution will best meet your needs.
So how do you arrive at my “perfect fit”?
To arrive at your perfect fit we examine the following:
• Your Current Bike – What are your likes, dislikes regarding the fit and handling.
• Past Bikes – Have you had a favorite bike? What did you like and dislike about this bike?
• Professional Fits – Have you had a professional fit? What did you like or dislike about this fit?
What has changed since your last professional bike fit? If you haven’t had a professional fit recently, we recommend that you have one.
• Special Circumstances – Have you had any injuries that have affected your fit in any way?
Custom Fit vs. Custom Geometry
As a point of clarification, the Custom Road has been designed to deliver a specific ride experience. While each and every Custom Road is made to order, the goal of our customization program is to build you a bike that fits perfectly, not turn the Custom Road into a gravel bike. As such, only tube lengths and angles that affect fit are altered within a framework of the bike’s intended handling and ride characteristics.
FRAME TYPES – RACE VS ALL ROAD
THE ENVE CUSTOM ROAD FRAME IS AVAILABLE WITH TWO UNIQUE PERSONALITIES – RACE AND ALL ROAD
RACE GEOMETRY CONFIGURATION
• PRIORITIZES AGILITY AND RESPONSIVENESS
• SHORTER WHEELBASE
• GEOMETRY TUNED FOR LABELED 25-31MM TIRES
• MAX TIRE CLEARANCE – 35MM (LABELED)
• RIDER ARCHETYPE: ROAD/CRITERIUM RACER,
AGGRESSIVE AND RESPONSIVE, OUT OF THE SADDLE
ALL ROAD GEOMETRY CONFIGURATION
• PRIORITIZES STABILITY AND CONTROL
• LONGER WHEELBASE
• GEOMETRY TUNED FOR LABELED 29-35MM TIRES
• MAX TIRE CLEARANCE – 35MM (LABELED)
• RIDER ARCHETYPE: ENDURANCE, MIXED-SURFACE RACER,
SMOOTH AND FLOWING, IN THE SADDLE
Express Yourself With Paint
While establishing geometry and a perfect fit are of utmost importance, design and paint are the most fun. Paint is where the Custom Road rider gets to express their unique personality and style preferences.
Over the years, we have continually invested in our capabilities as a manufacturer. Given the challenges associated with painting carbon, establishing professional grade paint capabilities at ENVE has been a large part of this investment. We’ve also invested heavily on the digital side of the consumer experience. To assist future Custom Road customers in the paint selection process, we’ve developed a virtual bike configuration tool that allows users to dynamically select from 4 design templates and 38 colors to visualize in real-time countless paint configurations for their dream bike.
For riders who truly want one-of-a-kind customization or have a specific design in mind for their Custom Road, full-custom paint is available at an additional charge. If for some reason ENVE can’t perform the full-custom paint project, a ready-to-paint chassis can be sent to one of our qualified paint partners for realization of their dream paint job.
That Custom Road Feel
ENVE’s mission is to deliver a better ride experience through science and insight. We know that if we can deliver a road bike that looks and feels like an extension of you, then that is meaningful progress in the right direction. However, there is more to the experience than fit and aesthetics, there is ride feel.
Each Custom Road begins its life as one of 9 unique carbon parts that are cut and assembled to create a complete Custom Road Chassis. Each one of these parts is made using a mix of unidirectional carbon fiber, spread-tow fiber, and other materials to achieve our goals for weight, strength, stiffness, and compliance.
We believe that when it comes to road frame performance metrics, there can be “too much of a good thing.” While the Custom Road was designed to deliver high levels of efficiency through refined carbon laminates using the latest composite materials, our ride quality goals extend beyond a myopic focus on any one performance metric. Rather, we aim to strike a thoughtful balance between stiffness and compliance, aerodynamics and stability, lightweight and durability.
The end result is a road bike that feels connected to the road and rewards your hardest efforts.
Aerodynamics
Simply put, aerodynamic performance is expected from a modern road bike. Good aerodynamics deliver energy saving speed, stability, and confidence. Tapping into more than a decade’s worth of in-frame aero wheel development, the ENVE Custom Road is designed and surfaced to complement SES wheel design. While all SES wheelsets are designed to make any bike go faster, only the Custom Road has been specifically designed for pairing with an SES wheelset.